The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption to education in history. The virus led to hundreds of thousands of schools closing its doors earlier this year — affecting over 1 billion students worldwide — and the next school year is expected to be even more challenging.
We’ve reached a defining moment for the future of our young people. The education gap has widened even more due to the virus, and the decisions made now will affect future generations to come.
More than ever, students turn their attention to online schooling due to its convenience and accessibility. Scott Lee, founder and CEO of Gooroo, has sought to close the education gap by creating a technology-based tutoring platform.
Gooroo’s mission of making high-quality education accessible for all has become even more urgent during these troubling times.
I recently interviewed Lee on the creation of his new learning tool, Gooroo Courses, and how it can help revolutionize the education system for students today and beyond.
What are Gooroo Courses?
Gooroo Courses offer educational videos on various categories, including academics, personal development, and lifestyle. From learning more about cooking or how to play guitar to fractions and stoichiometry, sessions are prerecorded so students can watch them on their own time, and classes are automatically saved so the student can pick up right where they left off.
Gooroo uses certified experts to teach their courses, as well. Many have PhDs, MBAs, and years of equivalent experience. Each is trained to help inspire their students to be just as passionate about the subject as they are.
Concerning Gooroo Courses, Lee comments, “Gooroo Courses is essentially the Netflix of educational content. We offer a wide array of options catered to every student’s talent, and we teach them in a way that makes sure they know their individual talent is extremely valuable.”
Becoming Accessible In a Time of Crisis
Last spring, the coronavirus pandemic forced nearly all schools to shut down, halting many children’s education. Parents lost their jobs, making it challenging to find the financial means to continue their child’s learning.
Lee continues, “We’re one of the few businesses who have really taken off during the pandemic. Many young people are unable to attend school, and millions of families have lost their jobs, making private tutoring very financially difficult. We’ve sought to make education more accessible and meet their needs.”
With every purchased subscription, Gooroo is taking steps to resolve this issue by donating a subscription to an underserved household, giving them unlimited access to courses so that each and every student has the ability to reach their potential.
Gooroo has taken on the initiative to promote e-learning as a more convenient avenue of education. Amongst COVID-related debates on the future of education, online learning has been proven to be a safer and more convenient education method.
Making Education More Personalized
As students progress past elementary and middle school, they start to develop their own interests and seek to fulfill their growing curiosity in a subject. With Gooroo Courses, students are allowed to learn at their own pace and are taught according to their own learning style. Each tutor encourages their students to think creatively so they can organically and efficiently grow their knowledge in the subjects they choose.
Lee states, “The modern education system is a very ‘one size fits all’ approach. It doesn’t allow room for individuality or pursuit of a specific interest. We’re all about making learning more personal and offering it in such a way that unlocks every students’ potential.”
Multiple experts have concluded that the public education system is outdated. Curriculums have changed, but the system at its core hasn’t. Paul Boyce comments in an article on Fee, “A teacher at the front and the children seated is the optimal way to learn for some students, but others struggle in this environment.”
Just as each person has different personalities, so does each child have different learning styles. Gooroo’s instructors are trained to teach specifically to each student’s different learning style.
Preparing for the Next Generation
The next generation needs to develop a more global perspective with today’s changing times. Lee notes, “We want to debunk the idea that there’s only one way of learning, and if you don’t succeed in that, you’re a failure. We want to show that every student has something to offer that can ultimately add value to the world. It’s all dependent on how you develop it.”
The current educational system was developed over 150 years ago during the industrial age, where children were ultimately trained to work in factories. However, it’s predicted that by 2030, up to 20 million global manufacturing jobs could potentially be replaced by robots — reinforcing the pressing need to change the system.
E-learning platforms like Gooroo Courses that promote self-directed education help students reach their full potential, while overcoming the barrier many students face in physical classrooms.
Lee makes one last comment: “With today’s many technological advancements also comes the inevitability that the future of education needs changing. A lot of the world’s ‘repetitive’ jobs will eventually be replaced, and our team is very focused on unlocking every student’s potential to reach far beyond that. We want to teach as many students as possible — but also make sure we’re doing it the correct way — so we can really help each and every student grow.”